| March 26, 2004 #343 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) U.S. COCAINE USERS TO FEEL COLOMBIA PINCH IN YEAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - More than three years and $2 billion
later, Colombia's U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive is still not
affecting the U.S. cocaine market, the head of the U.S. government's
anti-drug effort said on Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Plan Colombia," backed by more than $2 billion in mainly military U.S. aid, began in late 2000, but it took time to deliver equipment and resources, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters, told Reuters by telephone. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug crop eradication has hit full speed in the past two years, the U.S. "drug czar" said, and the area in Colombia sown with cocaine's raw material, coca leaf, has shrunk by a third. | ||||||||||||||||||
But prices in the United States still have not risen, indicating
the drug is still getting through. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The magnitude of what's happening in Colombia will in the next
six to 12 months begin to show up," Walters said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Walters made a similar prediction in July, when he also said
effects on the U.S. market would appear within a year. But the
U.S. Congress has so far been willing to wait. | ||||||||||||||||||
"There's gotta be some impact on the street in the United States,"
said Eric Akers, staff director of the Senate Drug Caucus. But he
said congressional patience was still not running out: "I do think
that there are 12 months before .... those questions are going to
start having a real effect." | ||||||||||||||||||
Walters said the first effect on the street would likely be lower
purity, as dealers stretch supplies, not higher prices. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If you raise the price on people who are dependent, when they are basically spending most of their discretionary income on the drug, they start going into crisis and they start going into detox, into treatment, you lose them as a customer," Walters said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) US LAWMAKERS BACK INCREASE IN MILITARY PRESENCE IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe won backing from US lawmakers to
extend Plan Colombia, with many willing to increase US military and
civilian contractors employed in the Andean nation. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Senate's leader of minority Democrats, Tom Daschle said lawmakers were "very pleased" with Uribe's efforts to reduce drug trafficking and "impressed" with his fight against leftist rebels the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I don't think there could be a better partnership than the one we
have with Colombia in assuring that stability and security today,
and this is part of it," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We talked about raising the military cap and many of us support
it," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Republican representative Henry Hyde who heads the Foreign
Relations Committee of the Lower House said he favors an extension
of Plan Colombia beyond its 2005 expiration date. Uribe is
requesting for four more years. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think the best thing in Colombia is to have a good, stable
government and defeat the rebels who are causing such difficulty"
and drug trafficking, said Hyde. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hyde said he supported Daschle's view that the military cap be
raised. | ||||||||||||||||||
The law governing the US contribution to Plan Colombia forbids
US military from directly engaging in the fight against drugs
and rebels, limiting its scope to training and technical
assistance for Colombia's police and armed forces. | ||||||||||||||||||
President George W. Bush's administration wants to double the
US forces supporting Plan Colombia, the anti-drug and rebel
operation, from 400 to 800 operatives, and civilian contractors
from 400 to 600. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) POT-SMOKER WINS EI BATTLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TORONTO -- Gary Locke was just finishing his shift at an Ontario
poultry plant when he lit up a joint. His boss caught him and
fired him on the spot. | ||||||||||||||||||
Locke, who had worked at the plant for about eight years, applied for employment insurance benefits and was turned down on the grounds that it was "not unreasonable for the employer to have a zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of illegal drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
After a series of appeals, Locke took his case to the Federal
Court of Canada and won. | ||||||||||||||||||
The court found that the company, Horizon Poultry, had not
explicitly told employees that they would be dismissed if caught
smoking dope. | ||||||||||||||||||
It also ruled that other employees at the plant had been caught
smoking dope and only warned, not dismissed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Therefore, Locke's behaviour was not "such a fundamental breach
of the employer/employee relationship that any employee must have
known that, if apprehended, he was likely to be dismissed without
warning," the court ruled. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) GA.'S FIRST LADY SPEAKS IN MACON ABOUT CHILD PROTECTION BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Legislation Ready To Be Signed; Mary Perdue Calls It Victory For
Children | ||||||||||||||||||
If a child endangerment law is enacted, discretion will be used in
prosecuting adults who place children in dangerous situations, said
Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Howard Simms. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I don't think there is a prosecutor in the state that's looking to prosecute what by any other name is an accident," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Georgia is the only state that has no law punishing child endangerment.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has said he intends to sign the bill, which has
passed the House and Senate. "This is a huge victory for Georgia's
children," first lady Mary Perdue told more than 300 law enforcement
and child welfare workers at a conference Tuesday in the Wilson
Convention Center. | ||||||||||||||||||
The bill would make child endangerment a felony, carrying a penalty
of up to 20 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
Simms said his office will look at incidents on a case-by-case basis. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It would depend on the case. 'Why did you leave the baby in the car?'
If you left the baby in the car so you can smoke crack, then, yeah,
(the person would be prosecuted)," Simms said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Following the city of Amarillo's $5 million settlement with the
victims of the 1999 Tulia drug sting, the tables are turning on
prosecutor Terry McEachern. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rep. Mark Souder, author of the "Higher Education Act," blamed Clinton and Bush for not implementing his Act as he intended, "taking a penalty meant to discourage students from experimenting with drugs and using it to punish people trying to get their lives back on track." | ||||||||||||||||||
Speaking of paving and roads, "a growing chorus in Congress" is calling for motorists found to have any amount of any controlled substance in their body to be considered unlawfully impaired. One hopes endogenous substances such as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) will be tolerated, but what about prescription painkillers? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) STING PROSECUTOR FACES LAWSUIT FROM STATE BAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
State Bar of Texas officials announced Tuesday they will file a
lawsuit seeking sanctions against the prosecutor from the
controversial 1999 Tulia drug bust. The case against 64th District
Attorney Terry McEachern will be heard in a Panhandle district court
and could result in anything from a public reprimand to McEachern
losing his law license if convicted, according to Dawn Miller, chief
disciplinary counsel with the State Bar of Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||
The case is in a sort of legal limbo between the previously secret
State Bar investigation and the upcoming public trial, so Miller was
limited in the amount of information she could provide about the
matter. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Without going into any details, you can assume that if a case has
gotten to a point where a lawyer has elected to have the case heard in
district court, that means an investigative panel of a grievance
committee found just cause to believe a lawyer had committed
misconduct," Miller said. | ||||||||||||||||||
McEachern said he could not comment about the suit due to secrecy rules, but he still believes in the cases he prosecuted. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I still feel the same way I did back then," McEachern said. "Of
course, looking back, I would have done some things differently. But
it's easy playing Monday morning quarterback." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) DRUG PENALTY DECRIED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Law's Author Protests Some College-Aid Loss | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK -- Given that she had been thrown out of the house by age 13
and spent her teenage years sleeping on subway trains and rotting
piers, Laura Melendez figured she had kept her nose pretty clean --
even managed to get a high school-equivalency diploma. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sure, there had been a few arrests for smoking marijuana, but what did
this record really amount to after an entire adolescence spent on the
streets, with more visits from the police than from the parents who
threw her out for declaring herself a lesbian? | ||||||||||||||||||
"It means I'll be denied an education," said Melendez, who is from the
Bronx and applying to college. | ||||||||||||||||||
If Melendez, now 22, had been an armed robber, a rapist or even a murderer, she would not be in the same predicament. Once out of prison, she would have been entitled to government grants and loans. | ||||||||||||||||||
But under a contentious provision of federal law, tens of thousands of
would-be college students have been denied financial aid because of
drug offenses, even though the crimes may have been committed long ago
and the sentences already served out. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It is absurd on the face of it," said Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. | ||||||||||||||||||
Souder, who wrote the law, says the Clinton and Bush administrations
have both turned it on its head, taking a penalty meant to discourage
students from experimenting with drugs and using it to punish people
trying to get their lives back on track. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I am an evangelic Christian who believes in repentance, so why would I have supported that?" he said. "Why would any of us in Congress?" | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) 'DRUGGED DRIVING' STATUTES PUSHED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Many States Wary of Federal Action | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Citing estimates that 11 million people sometimes drive
under the influence of illegal drugs, a growing chorus in Congress
wants the government to do something about it. | ||||||||||||||||||
The states are wary. Eight states have specific laws on "drugged
driving," but their statutes are vague. None specifies an equivalent
level to the 0.08 percent blood content that Congress established as
the legal level for alcohol impairment. That's partly because there's
no roadside test to detect the presence of drugs in the body -- no
handy "breathalyzer" as there is for alcohol. Even if blood or urine
samples taken at a hospital test positive for drugs, there's no
standard for how high is too high to drive. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Zero tolerance" is the level some lawmakers want Congress to
establish. A motorist found to have any controlled substance in his or
her system would be considered unlawfully impaired. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) DRUG-FIGHTERS TURN TO RISING TIDE OF PRESCRIPTION ABUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Washington - After years in which marijuana, cocaine and heroin were
by far the main focus of the nation's war on drugs, the Bush
administration is now attacking the rising abuse of prescription
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
While marijuana remains the nation's most abused drug, according to government and private studies, narcotic pain relievers like OxyContin and Vicodin, along with a variety of some other prescription medications, have overtaken amphetamines to rank second. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Doctors, other health care providers and law enforcement officials say
prescription drug abuse produces the same problems as street drugs:
addiction, crime and broken families. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Beyond Congressional interest, the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy has for the first time instructed federal agencies with
antidrug programs to develop new strategies to combat prescription
drugs' abuse and illegal marketing. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We don't want to wait until we get what we had with the crack
epidemic," John P. Walters, who as the office's director serves as the
nation's "drug czar," said in an interview. "Hopefully we're a little
bit earlier in the process." | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Walters's office is largely a bully pulpit for the war on drugs,
setting policy and then lobbying Congress for money that is
distributed to the agencies carrying out the efforts. As a measure of
the administration's concern about prescription drugs, President Bush
is seeking $12.6 billion for antidrug programs next year. That would
be a 4.6 percent increase, a request nine times as high as the average
increase proposed for programs that do not involve defense or national
security. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But even the proposed level of federal spending may not make much difference, state and local law enforcement officers say. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Even the D.E.A. people I talk to say they are hurting for resources,"
said Sergeant Purcell. "Unless we get more resources, we'll always be
behind the eight ball." | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Upset that drug dealers are being released early to relieve Alabama's
straining prison system, one prosecutor sees no distinction between
selling prohibited substances to consenting adults and holding guns
to their heads. Remind me not to party with this guy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Scholarly research on reintegrating former prisoners gained attention
as one ex-con put a human face on this increasingly significant
problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
Yet another "bad apple" cops story. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) PROSECUTORS LAMENT EARLY RELEASE OF DRUG OFFENDERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Curtis Lamar Garrett, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful
distribution of a controlled substance, specifically crack cocaine, in
Talladega County Circuit Court in November 2003. Garrett and his wife,
Valerie, had been selling crack to an undercover informant from their
home. Circuit Judge Julian King accepted the plea, and sentenced
Garrett to 25 years in prison the following February. Unlawful
distribution of a controlled substance is normally a Class B felony,
punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Garrett, however, had two
prior convictions for distribution, and his home was within 3 miles of
a school. As a result, his 25-year sentence was the minimum possible
under Alabama's sentencing guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nonetheless, the Talladega County District Attorney's Office was notified that Garrett would be the subject of a hearing by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles after he had been in prison for a total of one month and two days. The hearing is set for April 13. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although Garrett is in many ways an extreme example, he is by no means
unique. Alabama's prison system is, like many state agencies, under
tremendous financial strain. As a result, the old rules governing
eligibility for parole have been abandoned, and "non-violent" convicts
are being released while serving ever smaller fractions of their
sentences. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The law lists a total of 45 crimes that are categorized as violent.
Everything else, including all drug offenses and thefts, are fair
game. | ||||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors say they are particularly upset over cases involving drug
dealers. Talladega County Chief Deputy District Attorney Barry Matson,
in a written response to the notice from the board that Garrett would
be considered for parole, wrote, "I am sure there is some memorandum
in your department that says people who sell drugs are not classified
as violent offenders. Whoever wrote that has never seen the
devastation that drugs leave in the lives of their victims. Garrett
was not someone out giving drugs away or sharing drugs to support a
habit. The investigation shows Garrett and his wife selling cocaine
out of their house. A drug dealer who sells drugs to a person and
either begins or perpetuates that cycle of addiction is no different
than the person who puts a gun to someone's head and pulls the
trigger." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) WHEN A DISSERTATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
For Devah Pager, a young sociologist from Honolulu, "kulia i ka nu'u"
- "to strive for the summit" - means to do research that can influence
policy, a realistic quest for her if the last few years are any
indication. | ||||||||||||||||||
As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, she studied the
difficulties of former prisoners trying to find work and, in the
process, came up with a disturbing finding: it is easier for a white
person with a felony conviction to get a job than for a black person
whose record is clean. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ms. Pager's study won the American Sociological Association's award
for the best dissertation of the year in August, prompting a Wall
Street Journal columnist to write about it. Howard Dean repeated her
main finding in stump speeches and interviews throughout his glory
days as the front-runner. | ||||||||||||||||||
Then, addressing the overall problem convicted felons have re-entering
the job market, President Bush announced in the State of the Union
message a $300 million program to provide mentoring and help them get
work. Jim Towey, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based
and Community Initiatives, said that Ms. Pager's study was one of the
many sources of information that helped shape the administration's
four-year plan. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ms. Pager, 32, is thrilled to see the issue receive national
attention. More than half a million inmates will leave penal
institutions this year, and "the Administration is finally recognizing
that the problems created by our incarceration policies can no longer
be ignored," she said. Even if the promised amount is trivial, she
said, the gesture is important symbolically. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) EX-PRISONER TELLS HER STORY, HOPING TO CHANGE DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ALBANY - Advocates and state lawmakers who have long been trying to
overhaul New York's mandatory sentences for drug crimes invoked a
time-honored tradition to push the issue in Albany last year:
celebrity. | ||||||||||||||||||
The hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons met for seven hours behind
closed doors last June with Gov. George E. Pataki and the state's
two top legislative leaders, trying to reach an agreement for
changing the Rockefeller-era drug laws. There was a rally days
before at City Hall, featuring appearances by entertainers,
including Carly Simon and the hip-hop artist 50 Cent. Before long,
the "Drop the Rock" campaign was gaining steam, after spots of
the same name on MTV. | ||||||||||||||||||
But, in the familiar syndrome of Albany gridlock, nothing changed. | ||||||||||||||||||
This year, with frustration mounting among legislators and thousands
of inmates still languishing in state prisons, another strategy
for change is being employed in the State Capitol by the prisoners'
relatives and advocates for the cause: putting a human face on the
issue. | ||||||||||||||||||
To that end, Elaine Bartlett, 46, the subject of a new book, "Life
on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett" (Farrar,
Strauss & Giroux), made the rounds in Albany on Monday to tell her
story about how she was arrested near Albany, in 1983, for selling
four ounces of cocaine, and sentenced, after a trial, to 20 years
to life for her first offense. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) TELLTALE WORDS ON A 1996 TAPE ARE RECALLED IN A POLICE INQUIRY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Except for one extraordinary twist, the raid on Apartment 10B in
March 1996 would have vanished long ago into the dense annals of
New York crime-fighting. A team of police officers and federal
agents, hunting for evidence against a drug gang, broke into the
apartment, on upper Madison Avenue. They pulled open drawers,
looked in closets and upended cushions. They left behind their
search warrant, on which they noted that they had not found the
very first item they had come looking for: "monies." | ||||||||||||||||||
Yet a fluke event - "once in a hundred years," as a lawyer later
said - provided a candid glimpse of the search and raised
troublesome questions. | ||||||||||||||||||
During the commotion, someone turned on a telephone answering
machine's recorder, apparently without realizing it. For the next
30 minutes, the machine captured the clamor and chatter of the
search: an exclamation, "My God, that's a lot of money;" a
wisecrack about the Constitution; a crude racial remark about
the apartment's residents, who were not home. | ||||||||||||||||||
Seven minutes into the tape, a man can be heard quietly counting.
"Six hundred," he says. "Eight hundred. Nine hundred." Twenty-nine
seconds later, the sound of a zipper is heard. | ||||||||||||||||||
Annette Brown, who lived in the apartment and played a minor
role in her son's drug business, later told authorities that
$900 in cash had disappeared from a zippered portfolio. The
police and federal agents all denied seeing money. At least three
official investigations of Ms. Brown's claim and tape led to no
charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now, eight years later, as the New York Police Department faces
allegations of corruption on a much grander scale, Carlos Rodriguez,
the detective who was in charge of tallying evidence from the Brown
apartment, has again come under scrutiny, for an entirely separate
episode. This time, a retired detective claims to have shared money
taken from a drug dealer with Detective Rodriguez, according to a
person who has been briefed on the inquiry. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In a clear sign of progress, the judge overseeing the trial of
medicinal cannabis users Anna and Gary Barrett will allow the couple
to present evidence that they use and grow the herb for medical
purposes. This follows in the wake of a December 9th Circuit of
Appeals Court ruling which recognized the rights of patients in
states that have passed laws in support of medicinal cannabis to
present such evidence in court. The Barrett's are accused of growing
cannabis for commercial purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The big news from Canada this week is that a pilot program may soon
see federally-grown medicinal cannabis distributed through drug
stores in British Columbia. Although it is encouraging to see
pharmacists recognize and support the medicinal use of cannabis,
activists and federally licensed users continue to express serious
concerns over the poor quality of the federal pot. More progress was
made in Australia this week, where the state of Western Australia
has just decriminalized the minor possession of cannabis by adults,
imposing fines of up to 150aus (about $170usd) and compulsory drug
education classes rather than criminal records for those adults with
under 30 grams. | ||||||||||||||||||
And from D.C. this week, a good story about MPP's Steve Fox,
Washington's only full-time marijuana lobbyist. Lastly from Canada,
news that Marc Emery, the owner of Cannabis Culture Magazine and
founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party, was arrested and jailed in
Saskatoon after handing out joints during a legalization rally.
Emery is one of the biggest funders of drug policy reform in Canada;
we wish him well in his continued quest to put an end to Canadian
cannabis prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE COULD BE USED AS DEFENSE, FEDERAL JUDGE (Top)RULES | ||||||||||||||||||
A couple charged with growing marijuana may be allowed to present evidence to a jury that it was being used for medicinal purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Monday's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Nora M. Manella to
allow Anna Barrett and her husband, Gary, to make such a case comes
in the wake of a December ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals. The December ruling concluded that a congressional act
outlawing the drug may not apply to sick people with a doctor's
recommendation in states with medical marijuana laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Defense lawyers wanted the charges dismissed based on the appellate court's ruling. But Manella said the government had enough evidence that the couple may have been growing their marijuana for a "commercial operation," allowing the case to go to trial. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) HEALTH CANADA PLANS PILOT PROJECT TO PUT CERTIFIED MARIJUANA INTO (Top)PHARMACIES | ||||||||||||||||||
Health Canada plans to make government-certified marijuana available
in pharmacies, a move that could rapidly boost the number of
registered medical users. | ||||||||||||||||||
Officials are organizing a pilot project in British Columbia, modelled on a year-old program in the Netherlands, that would allow medical users to buy marijuana at their local drugstore. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
However, some approved users say the Health Canada dope is of such
poor quality that wider distribution and novel forms will not
necessarily attract more users. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) WESTERN AUSTRALIA EASES RULES ON CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Western Australia has become the second state to decriminalise
cannabis in a bid to reduce the police and courts workload and
divert more users to counselling. | ||||||||||||||||||
Possession of small amounts of cannabis is already decriminalised in
South Australia, and in the Northern Territory and the Australian
Capital Territory - both self-governing, but still subject to
federal Parliament. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The new WA laws provide for fines of up to A$150 ($170) and
compulsory drug education classes for people caught with up to 30g
of cannabis, or a A$200 fine for growing two plants. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) SERVING AS K ST.'S 'POTHEAD' LOBBYIST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
For a lobbyist, the first meeting with a Member of Congress is
always memorable -- even more so for Steve Fox. | ||||||||||||||||||
As Fox walked into his first meeting in a Congressional office, a staffer greeted him and escorted him to see the lawmaker. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The potheads are here," the staffer said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Not the typical greeting for a well-dressed lobbyist in Washington. | ||||||||||||||||||
But it is what Fox often faces as director of government relations
for the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest U.S. organization
devoted to reforming laws related to marijuana use. He is the only
full-time lobbyist in Washington working to loosen federal
restrictions on marijuana use. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) "PRINCE OF POT" ARRESTED IN SASKATCHEWAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Marc Emery has been arrested and charged with trafficking and possession of marijuana. Emery, nicknamed the "Prince of Pot," is the founder and president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In court Tuesday morning, the Crown dropped Emery's possession charge. He is due back in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing. | ||||||||||||||||||
Justin McGowan of Saskatoon was also charged with possession. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In Thailand, phase "II" of the so-called "Drug War" has officially
begun, with the police in northern Thailand admitting to
blacklisting more than 4,600 drug offenders. Brazenly, police
officials proclaimed that some 7,000 drug "dealers" were killed last
year. This number of killed, 7,000, is over twice other official
estimates of around 2,500 Thai people executed by extra-legal death
squads in last year's pogrom. Officials, in touching concern for the
rights of accused Thai citizens want plans to be "covertly
implemented because some dealers could hire top lawyers to plead
their cases." | ||||||||||||||||||
In Bangkok this week, the U.S. Embassy dismissed a Thai government
statement claiming the U.S. had apologized for noting recent Thai
death squad activity. An earlier report by the U.S. State department
recognized Thai drug prohibition death squads illegally killed some
2,500 people last year. Nothing that could be "be characterized as
an apology" was sent, a U.S. Embassy spokesman insisted. Last week,
Thai officials said the U.S. admitted to using outdated information
for the report. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Vancouver, Canada, a trial that would give away free heroin and
methadone to over 150 addicts may begin this fall in the East
Hastings section of the city. The experimental site received a
permit from Vancouver city hall last week. The North American Opiate
Injection Trial, a two-year experiment in prescribing heroin, is
operating from an $8.1 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research. The trials follow similar experiments in Europe
that showed giving users heroin helped them stabilize their lives
and improved their health. | ||||||||||||||||||
And the mayor of nearby Victoria, Canada, Alan Lowe, said he'd like to have a safe-injection site in his city. "We need to look at a supervised safe injection site as one of those options," stated Lowe. Seemingly supportive of the idea, B.C. provincial health officials would not commit to funding another safe-injection site. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) DRUG WAR II HAS STARTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The second wave of skewed statistics underway | ||||||||||||||||||
The Northern Narcotics Control Office (NNCO) reports that it is
ready to launch the second War on Drug campaign, and has more than
4,600 suspects on the blacklists. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The director of NNCO, Pithaya Jinawat, said that following the first
War on Drugs campaign last year, held in compliance with the
government's policy, more than 23,000 drug dealers were stopped, of
which 7,000 dealers were killed and the other 16,000 dealers
surrendered to the authorities. These dealers came from the names of
101,000 drug traffickers on the blacklists. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In this second operation, which will run from March 8 - June 8,
2004, the office has collected more than 4,600 names of drug
dealers. This operation is being carefully and covertly implemented
because some dealers could hire top lawyers to plead their cases,
leading the courts to dismiss the charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
With 101,000 names on the blacklist in Drug War I and only 23,000
accounted for (7,000 killed), this leaves 78,000 still at large.
This time, the figure is given as only 4,600 suspects on the Drug
War II blacklist, which prompts the question as to what happened to
the other 73,400? | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) U.S. EMBASSY DISMISSES APOLOGY CLAIM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok yesterday dismissed a statement from the Thai government that claimed Washington had apologised for alleging extrajudicial killings in its annual report on human rights. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I definitely can not confirm that any letter was sent that can be
characterised as an apology," the spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in
Bangkok said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Government Spokesman Jakrapob Penkair told a press conference
yesterday that Washington had apologised to the Thai government for
alleging in its annual report on human rights that law enforcement
officers had carried out extrajudicial killings during its war on
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jakrapob, quoting Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai at yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting, said the U.S. had admitted that they had used "outdated" information in compiling the annual report. | ||||||||||||||||||
The controversial U.S. report touched on the alleged extrajudicial
killings carried out by Thai law enforcement during the government's
antidrug campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||
More then 2,500 people were killed in the first phase of the war
from March 1 to May 31, 2003. | ||||||||||||||||||
The government claimed that all but about 40 of the deaths were
"silence killings" carried out by drug dealers against other dealers
to prevent law enforcement officials from getting information from
them. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) FREE HEROIN CLINIC CLOSER TO REALITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Experimental Addiction Site Could Be Open This Fall | ||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - An experiment that will provide free heroin and
methadone to 158 Vancouver addicts moved one step closer to reality
this week after Vancouver city hall issued a permit to develop a
site at the corner of Hastings and Abbott. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Martin Schechter, the principal investigator of the Vancouver part of a Canada-wide trial to prescribe heroin to see if it helps stabilize them and improve their health, said Wednesday the next step is to seek a building permit and start renovations. | ||||||||||||||||||
The site at 400 Abbott also needs approval from Health Canada for an
exemption from the Narcotics Act, similar to the approval received
by Vancouver's supervised-injection site. | ||||||||||||||||||
If all the approvals fall into place, the new facility will probably
be open in the fall, Schechter said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 158 addicts have not been selected to take part in the clinical
trial in Vancouver, he added. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The trial attracted headlines last October when a letter went out to
residents near the 600 block of East Hastings, advising them a
development permit had been requested to open a site in order to run
a two-year experiment in prescribing heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
The North American Opiate Injection Trial was supposed to begin in March, along with similar trials in Toronto and Montreal. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) SAFE INJECTION SITE ON MAYOR'S MIND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Mayor Alan Lowe wants to make Victoria the 61st safe-injection site
in the world for downtown drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
He said there are a variety of options out there for dealing with
the drug problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We need to look at a supervised safe injection site as one of those
options," Lowe said. "If there's a political will, I think it will
happen." | ||||||||||||||||||
While not asked specifically whether the province would fund such a
site in Victoria, fledgling Minister of State for Mental Health and
Addictions Susan Brice spoke of "bringing the service to where
people are." The statement had at least one audience member
wondering what that actually meant. | ||||||||||||||||||
Brice's explanation, while delivered with an air of sincerity, gave
little indication that anything more concrete was on the way, be it
funding for additional beds or facilities. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH PROF. PETER COHEN OF CEDRO | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ANTI-DRUG GROUP LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA | ||||||||||||||||||
Steven Steiner -- founder of Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers -- rejects claims that pot can be used for medicinal purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Steiner is calling on families across the state to write letters to
lawmakers urging them not to support the legislation. | ||||||||||||||||||
Steiner says he wants to send a message to Albany that medical marijuana
is not welcome in New York state. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Mary Jane is a stalwart of theDrugSense.org and is co-founder and
treasurer of the Ohio Patient Network and fundraiser/strategic
planner/grantwriter for DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
US Congressman John Conyers is again scheduled to join us, to discuss his
recent travels to Jamaica to discuss the situation in Haiti with exiled
President Aristede and how drug lords are responsible for the overthrow of
the government. | ||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live Online at http://www.kpft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MARC EMERY JAILED IN SASKATOON | ||||||||||||||||||
Interview with Lawyer John Conroy and eye-witnesses Justin McGowan and
Tim Meehan. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
THE HILARY BLACK SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
Pharmacies dispensing medical marijuana brought media into the
Compassion Club, and Hilary hosts us on the tour and elucidates
the virtues of compassion clubs over pharmacists. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: ECSTASY RISING | ||||||||||||||||||
Thursday, April 1st at 10pm EST/PST, 9pm CST/MST on ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
The rise of Ecstasy is a major event in drug history. If current
trends continue, 1.8 million Americans will try Ecstasy for the
first time in 2004; only marijuana will attract more new users.
Overwhelming, positive word of mouth has made Ecstasy a nightmare
for drug controllers. On a special edition of 'Primetime Thursday'
Peter Jennings tells the epic story of Ecstasy that has never been
heard. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Provide Reasons | ||||||||||||||||||
If legislators Jerome Cochran and Rusty Crowe believe TennCare
shouldn't pay for methadone treatment, they should be expected to
provide good reasons, such as evidence that methadone treatment for
addiction is medically unsound or not cost-effective (Lawmakers want
to stop payments for methadone, March 9). | ||||||||||||||||||
Their work's cut out for them: The benefits of methadone
substitution are validated by decades of clinical experience and
numerous published research studies. While acknowledging it isn't a
panacea, the National Institutes of Health and the American Society
of Addiction Medicine each have issued consensus statements
endorsing methadone treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
Accordingly, Cochran's and Crowe's conspicuous omission of evidence
makes one wonder if they even care about methadone and are merely
posturing for political gain. Drug abuse issues, methadone
particularly, attract opportunists and demagogues like carrion draws
flies and buzzards. These solons seem to appreciate how rhetoric
such as "reimbursing people for drug habits," or "methadone's just
trading one addiction for another" resonates with the sort of folks
who consider any malady curable by dancing about with live
rattlesnakes in hand. Such voters are plentiful, don't ask too many
questions and can easily be gotten to the polls in a suitable state
of agitation. | ||||||||||||||||||
I'm unaware of any civilization that collapsed from rampant
substance abuse, but history books are full of extinct nations that
allowed their leadership to become irresponsible and self-serving.
What's seen here bodes ill for our future. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mett Ausley JR., M.D. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WE SHALL BE RELEASED | ||||||||||||||||||
By Marc Scott Emery, Thu Mar 25 2004 04:42 PM | ||||||||||||||||||
I am released from jail after 72 hours in Saskatoon lock-up and
remand centre. | ||||||||||||||||||
I used the term 'We Shall be Released' in spirit of the folk gospel
song because this is a harsh place, Saskatchewan, in the grip of an
evil tyranny by the government and policing forces in all
Saskatchewan, and there are many victims here, I am merely the most
known of many victims of vicious marijuana prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is a shame and disgrace that Saskatchewan is part of Canada, a
condemnation of Canada, the province of Saskatchewan and the city of
Saskatoon. The police in this province are implicated in many police
scandals involving death, framing accused persons, concocting
evidence, in addition to extremely punitive sentencing. | ||||||||||||||||||
I was released on an outrageously high bail of $3,500! I am
officially accused of passing two lit joints, thus I am charged with
trafficking, which carries a 7 year maximum. The crown is seeking
SIX MONTHS INCARCERATION on this charge, of passing two joints! I
had in my possession 2.3 grams of pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
In addition to $3,500 bail (in cash!), I cannot POSSESS MARIJUANA or
HAND OUT MARIJUANA until my VERDICT, up to 3 or 4 months away! Wow!
In addition, I MUST SUBMIT to any WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF MY PERSON,
MY HOME!, MY CAR, at any time by any police officer. If I break
these conditions, I will be remanded in custody until trial in
Saskatoon. Wow! | ||||||||||||||||||
Further, the crown here wanted a curfew, restrictions on my ability
to travel and lecture and participate in the federal election. The
crown also asked that I not be in any building where marijuana
smoking may be going on. These conditions were rejected by the
court. | ||||||||||||||||||
In jail and remand, I could not eat any food as it was all garbage
and contained meat, which I cannot and will not eat, so I lost
weight (although I look much trimmer), though, strangely, I was
never hungry. | ||||||||||||||||||
My ankles are bruised an ugly blue from leg irons being put on them
several times during the ordeal. I was conveyed back & forth each
day in a stuffed, very claustrophobic and nerve wracking police van,
crammed full with 12-14 prisoners. | ||||||||||||||||||
There are many violent offenders, drug addicts and addicts to
alcohol in the Saskatoon Remand Centre. I was always treated well by
all other inmates, and the police or guards did not discriminate
against me (any different from the systemic abuse all prisoners
endure), but three days, $3,500 bail, searches on my home, person,
car for the next 3 months (without warning), prohibition of any
contact with marijuana, going 3 days without food, ALL FOR LIGHTING
AND PASSING TWO JOINTS! | ||||||||||||||||||
Ironically, a fan, Justin McGowan, sunk me when he testified to
police, in admiration of me, that I passed out two joints, which
brought about the trafficking charge and the avalanche of bad news.
Even then, it is shocking and outrageous. | ||||||||||||||||||
But then, that's why I headed this thread WE SHALL BE RELEASED
because the suffering of the cannabis culture here is great, and
remedy is desperately needed, and I shall be here often to rally the
marijuana community in this forsaken province. I am full of sorrow
for the people here. They suffer a reign of evil by Bible thumping
prohibitionists and corrupt police and sadistic prosecutors. I am
merely a victim of their obscenities but unlike those here, I garner
attention, unlike so many others here who languish in obscurity, and
no one hears their crying or pain. | ||||||||||||||||||
Thank you to all who called the detention centres and jail, but the sad truth is, the system here is cruel and punishments meted out cavalierly to those that these laws are surely designed to punish. | ||||||||||||||||||
I read the Bible here intensely, not for redemption, but because I
know now the Bible condemns all this unChristian behaviour. These
people are Philistines who mis-use the Bible as their bedrock to
inflict pain and punishment on the vulnerable, the poor, the young,
the drug addicted, and other marginalized persons. | ||||||||||||||||||
There are many natives in jail. All the natives I spoke to who were drug addicted or alcohol addicted had no father growing up, though they never said this information in any sentiment or cloying way. They were always surprised when I asked each one about their childhood, but I have learned from my patients at Iboga Therapy House that all drug addicts suffer awful and permanently scarring childhood trauma in their delicate youth, and they spend all their life struggling with this. The system metes out punishment in a most bitter, anonymous way, to individuals (though they are hardly regarded as individual persons) to whom they are never even responsible for the conditions of their psyche they now endure. | ||||||||||||||||||
They are not all good people, but surely they will only get worse,
and more desperate, warehoused and disrespected like this. It is a
depressing situation. | ||||||||||||||||||
A few inmates were very happy to know 'a famous person' and confided
many things to me, and their brief trust made me feel blessed, that
I have love of friends, family, others, and can take comfort in that
while many here languish in despair that I know will be difficult
for them to escape and survive. | ||||||||||||||||||
I am to come back to Saskatoon next week on Wednesday for my 'set
trial date', and I want to hold a rally at the court house, as I
will do every time I have to come back here. I will redouble my
efforts to motivate activists here and across Canada, as I have seen
the enemy, and it is everywhere in Canada, moreso worse here in
Saskatchewan. There will be no retreats nor lack of will, there is
only honour and greater glory in doing what must be done to correct
this awful situation. | ||||||||||||||||||
I was delighted to find I enjoyed reading the Bible and studying it,
and I am keen to read all of it and read Chris Bennett's work, 'Sex,
Drugs, Violence & The Bible' and learn more. | ||||||||||||||||||
I will comment more later, but do not relent in your activism. I am
released, but like you, and all others in the cannabis culture, here
in Canada, the USA and the world, I am not free. We are stripped of
our birthright, to freely enjoy God's intended gifts, and an
abomination is loose amongst us, driving many of us to despair, so
we have this mission before us that will never end. | ||||||||||||||||||
Thanks for all your thoughts, words, actions on my behalf. I am, as
always in these times when I have been arrested (twenty arrests, 14
jailings, 5 raids now for cannabis), grateful and secure in the
knowledge that people love and care for me, and I am humbled by your
tribute to me. | ||||||||||||||||||
I remain unbowed, vigorous to the cause, of which I will always put
forth my best efforts on our behalf, and I am enriched by this
experience. | ||||||||||||||||||
WE SHALL BE RELEASED | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"And a new philosophy emerged called quantum physics, which suggests that the individual's function is to inform and be informed. You really exist only when you're in a field sharing and exchanging information. You create the realities you inhabit." -- Timothy Leary | ||||||||||||||||||
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